Preps Plus.

Libertyville Rushes Through Mundelein

September 23, 1995|By Dave Silbar. Special to the Tribune.

The classic high school football rivalry matchup that was supposed to take place Friday in Mundelein took less than 24 minutes to fizzle.

Although most of Lake County was focusing on the Oct. 13 meeting between Libertyville and Stevenson (both currently unbeaten), fans who showed up for Friday's Libertyville-Mundelein contest were expecting to see a battle.

What they saw instead was favored Libertyville (5-0, 4-0) wasting no time setting the tone with a 41-21 victory to move one step closer to being crowned North Suburban champ.

With Libertyville averaging 31.5 points per game coming in, quarterback Chris Fulbright and running back Jerjuan Lawson ran over, around and through Mundelein's defensive all night.

By the time Wildcat coach Randy Kuceyeski pulled both players midway through the third quarter, Fulbright had 140 yards rushing, including a 59-yard touchdown, and Lawson 182 yards with TD romps for 1, 41 and 74 yards.

Backup QB Andy Jansen even got in on the fun, racing 55 yards up the middle to put Libertyville ahead 41-7 in the third.

"Last year they almost beat us and we came in a little more prepared tonight," said Fulbright.

The Wildcat defense, meanwhile, held Mundelein to just 111 yards of offense, all on the ground.

Calvin Davis, held to 65 yards in 19 attempts, did return a kickoff 85 yards to get the Mustangs (1-4, 0-4) on the board in the third quarter, and sophomore Corey Adams blocked a Libertyville punt and later scooted 23 yards for Mundelein's other score.

The Wildcats racked up 309 yards on the ground by halftime, averaging 11.5 yards per carry.

Lawson took the second play from scrimmage 41 yards, and seven minutes later carried in from the 1 to put Libertyville up 14-0.

QB keepers for 14 and 19 yards set up Tyler Coleman's 3-yard TD dash three plays into the second quarter, and with Mundelein forced to punt three plays into its next possession, Fulbright went right back to work.

Hiting R.J. Ward for a short gain on the lone Libertyville pass of the half, Fulbright sliced through the Mustang defense on the next play for a 59-yard TD run and 28-0 advantage, which the Wildcats took into halftime.

"Our kids still get fired up for each other," Kuceyeski said about the rivalry between the teams. "It doesn't matter what the score is or what kind of record either team has coming in. We get up for them, they get up for us, and it's fun for everybody."